Bad Blood

Author:

By Jeremy Whittle

Awards:

William Hill Sports Book Of The Year Award Short Listed 2008

Format:

Paperback (Paperback)

Availability:

Out of print. Try our second hand search facility.

Price:

£11.99

Tagged with:

Cycling, Tour de France, Doping

Member Reviews

• Reviewed by 1 member with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Login or join us to post the first review!

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Further Details

• Published: 26th Jun 2008
• ISBN: 0224080229
• Pages: 288
• Size: 215mm x 134mm

From the Publisher:

For Jeremy Whittle, there isn't much in life as spectacular as the Tour de France: sweat-streaked, taut and burnished athletes toiling across vast and ancient European landscapes, hundreds of thousands of fans lining the route. The twisting Mediterranean roads, the jerseys, the peloton in full flight - these have become as familiar to him as the lines around his eyes. And then there are the riders: men of almost superhuman capabilities, men who have become his friends, men whose stories he has written day in day out for the past decade.But even the biggest fan can one day wake up to find that he has lost his faith.

We all want to believe in our heroes. That's why Jeremy got into cycling. But what happens when you can't? When you've seen too many positive dope tests, when you've been lied to too many times, when your sport is destroying itself from within? "Bad Blood" is the story of Jeremy Whittle's journey from unquestioning fan to Tour de France insider and confirmed sceptic.

It's about broken friendships and a sport divided; about having to choose sides in the war against doping; about how galloping greed and corporate opportunism have led the Tour de France to the brink of destruction. Part personal memoir, part devastating expose of a sport torn apart by drugs and scandal, "Bad Blood" is a love letter to one man's past, and a warning to cycling's future.

Member Reviews and Ratings

James (Blogger)

Rated 4 out of 5 stars.

A very interesting, if a little depressing read. It seems there's a lot of milage in writing about the doping problems in the pro peloton, so you can find myriad books on the subject at present.

This stands out, however, as it's well researched, well written and has a real air of authority. I found it hard to read, but not because of anything negative to do with the writing. Rather, the hard part is accepting that much of the detail in Bad Blood is true. It is never easy to look at a sport you love with cold hard facts about it being less than pure before you, but this is a good read and recommended.

Posted on 1st Dec 2009 at 20:22:49 GMT.